Slidable-jaw nut and screw operated wrench



pri EL 3950 A. D. SHOEMAKER SLIDABLE-JAW NUT AND SCREW OPERATED WRENCH Filed Sept. 4, 1946 Patented Apr. 11, 1950 SLIDABLE-JAW NUT AND SCREW OPERATED WRENCH Austin D. Shoemaker, Yakima, Wash., assigner of one-half to Theodore J. Cyr, Yakima, Wash.

Application September 4, 1946, Serial No. 694,739

1 Claim. (Cl. 81-169) My invention relates to new and useful improvements in wrenches and more particularly to that class of wrenches wherein a sliding jaw is adjustable on the shank of the wrench.

The invention relates to both monkey and pipe wrenches on the order of the Stillson wrench and one object of the present invention is to provide a wrench of this character which is adjusted by turning the handle of the wrench, making it unnecessary for the operator to shift his hands from their working position.

The objects of my invention are to provide a Wrench of this type which may be readily adjusted to any size nut, also to provide by my irnprovement of construction rapid means for manipulating the sliding jaw, and also to provide a wrench that can be quickly adjusted to a positivenon-slip hold on the nut or pipe to be moved. Simplicity of construction, void of unnecessary threads and complicated parts makes this wrench an all purpose heavy duty wrench.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the drawings wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View, with parts broken away and parts shown in section, of an improved heavy duty wrench constructed in accordance with the present invention, and in a substantially closed position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the parts shown in the open position.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational View of the inner jaw member taken from the left end of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of outer jaw member with a fragment of the inner jaw member shown in chain lines, and

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the outer jaw member as seen from the left end of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Il) and II designate respectively the inner and outer jaws of the wrench with the lip I2 of the inner jaw Ill having teeth and the lip I3 of the outer jaw straight and smooth in accordance with standard Stillson practice. A shoulder I4 on the outer jaw I I acts as a stop in engaging the inner jaw.

The outer jaw II is carried by a retractor and expander shaft I5 slidable axially through a tubular shank I6 which carries the inner jaw I0.

The shaft I5 and shank I6 may be circular in cross section, but to prevent relative rotation between these parts the same include head sections I1 and IS of rectangular or other noncircular cross-section. These head sections I'I and I8 are enlarged parts of the shaft I5 and shank I6 and directly have formed thereon the jaws II and I0. The head section Il may be permanently connected to the shaft l5 by a sweat joint I9. The flared end 20 of the tubular shank I6 may be welded or otherwise secured to the tubular head section I8.

At its opposite end the shaft I5 has a threaded extension 2l projecting outwardly beyond the shank I6 meshing with a nut 22 which is a part of an externally-knurled handle 23 comprising also two tubular housings 24 and 25 projecting in opposite directions from the nut 22.

One housing 24 envelops the adjacent end portion of the tubular shank it and carries one or more internal projections 2t, which may be in the form of set screws threaded into threaded openings of the housing 24; such projections 26 being entered into an annular groove 21 of the shank i6 to permit rotary movement of the handle 23 about the shank I6 but to restrain any axial sliding movement between the shank i6 and handle 23.

The nut 22 is of reduced diameter compared to the smooth-bored housings 24 and 25 resulting in the formation of end shoulders 28 and 29. One shoulder 2B is permanently adjacent the proximate end of the tubular shank I6 held there by the mutual engagement of the projections 26 in the circular groove 21 and acting therewith to stabilize the handle 23 against a lateral rocking movement which might tend to bind the threads of the nut 22 and extension 2l. The other shoulder 29 is adapted to abut against a washer 30 larger in diameter than that of the threaded eX- tension 2I and held by a nut 3l and a lock nut 32 against a shoulder 33 formed between the threaded extension 2I and a second threaded extension 34 also carried by the shaft I5 and of reduced diameter compared to that of the threaded extension 2l. The outer housing 25 is long enough to encompass the second extension 34 when in its projected position as shown in Fig. l. A screw threaded or other cap 35 is removably mounted on the outer free end of the housing 25 to close the same against the entrance of foreign matter and to protect the hands of the operator.

In operation, by grasping the shank I6 tightly in one hand and the handle 23 in the other, such handle may be rotated in one or the other direction to open or close the jaws of the wrench. Fig. l shows the jaws I and I I approaching a closed position. When fully closed the stop shoulder will impinge against the end of the head section I8 of the tubular shank I6. Because of the lefthand threads of the extension 2l and nut 22 the closing movement of the jaws is eiected by a right-hand rotary movement of the handle 23 by which superior natural power of the operator may be exerted to cause the jaws to grip a nut or pipe which is very desirable for heavy duty work. In Fig. 2 the jaws I0 and Il are shown open to the full extent achieved by the left-hand rotary motion of the handle 23, in which position the stop washer 30 has been run against the stop shoulder 29 of the nut 22 to arrest further opening movement and to prevent disassembly of the parts. The handle 23 and its housings 24 and 25 aiords protection to the Working parts and offers no joints or parts which might catch the hand or clothing of the operator.

The threads of the second extension 34 are preferably right handed.

Referring more particularly to Figs. and 6, a pipe wrench head 36 has a rounded lip with teeth 37 and a bifurcated end having legs 38 straddling the proximate end of the shaft head section I'ia to which the pipe wrench jaw 36 is pivoted on a pin 39. A shoulder 40 on the jaw 36 is adapted to abut a complemental shoulder 4I on the shaft head section I'Ia to limit outward swinging movement of the pipe jaw 36 about the pivot 39. The limited pivotal movement enables the jaw 36 to accommodate itself to varying diameters of pipe sections. The shaft I51 of the pipe wrench is interchangeable with the monkey wrench shaft I5.

It will be noted that the use of the left-hand threaded reti-actor and expander has great advantage over like purpose Wrenches because in the use of such wrench the manner of grasping such wrench is such as to loosen the thread thus releasing the hold on the nut or pipe to be moved. With the left-hand thread on the expander and contractor the likelihood of loosening the hold on the nut or pipe is negligible.

The improved wrench has but two moving parts resulting in simplicity of construction, thus eliminating any causes for failure of the parts to perform their expected work. Also the wrench is so constructed as to give ease in handling for the mechanic and is designed and streamlined for use in narrow or diicult places, and is so designed as to have the ultimate strength without the excess weight and bulkiness found in likepurpose wrenches.

The wrench affords two types of expanders and contractors which are interchangeable in the one form of shank and handle and the wrench is therefore readily convertible into a duo purpose or two way wrench.

The wrench preferably has a machined thread standard 16 to the inch which promotes a finer gradation, a closer fit, a more positive hold on the nut or pipe and gives a non-slip hold on said nut or pipe.

Economy is had both in manufacture and durability as well as ease in adjustment.

The external design may be changed without altering the internal mechanism.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specically described invention without departing from the spirit and scope of said invention, such changes and modications being restricted in scope by the following claim.

What I claim is:

A wrench comprising inner and outer relatively movable jaws, a tubular shank carrying the inner jaw, a shaft carrying the outer jaw and adjustable axially through said tubular shank and having a threaded extension on the shaft at the end opposite said outer jaw, said shaft being longer than the tubular shank by a margin by which the outer portion of the threaded extension lies beyond the adjacent end of the tubular shank in the fully open position of the jaws/a second threaded extension on the first threaded extension being or" reduced diameter with a shoulder between said extensions, a unitary handle composed of an intermediate nut portion and inner and outer housings extending in opposite directions from said nut portion and being of greater internal diameter than said nut portion, said nut portion being rotatably mounted on the first threaded extension and having shoulders at opposite ends, means for preventing relative rotation between said shaft and tubular shank, means between the inner housing and said shank for permitting free rotation of the handle relatively to the shank but preventing axial movement between these two members and for acting to hold the inner nut shoulder closely adjacent the proximate end of the shank, and stop means threaded on the second reduced threaded extension and engaging the shoulder between the threaded extensions and positioned to engage the outer shoulder of the nut portion in the fully open position 0f the jaws.

AUSTIN D. SHOEMAKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 391,588 De Witt Oct. 23, 1888 599,334 Humphrey et al. Feb. 22, 1898 966,698 Munday Aug. 9, 1910 1,352,729 Dyer et al. Sept. 14, 1920 

